The Fairfax County Animal Shelter in Virginia is asking for help in finding homes for dogs in its care this summer as capacity is high and the shelter is undergoing HVAC maintenance in the summer heat.
Adoption fees have been waived for dogs and are half-off on all other animals until this Sunday.
“We have just, in general, a lot of animals that are looking for good homes, but especially we have, in particular, a lot of dogs that are looking for homes,” said Katherine Zenzano, the humane education coordinator at the Fairfax County Animal Shelter. She added that they’re experiencing a high population of animals in their care.
Zenzano said they are having some maintenance done on their HVAC system and that there are “some areas of the shelter where animals are housed that [will have] some high temperatures, probably some high humidity as well.”
So they’re trying to get animals out of those areas and into homes … even if that means they’re not forever homes.
“If people are not able to take advantage of the adoption promotion, they can certainly get in touch with us about fostering as well,” Zenzano said.
And it’s not just dogs that need homes. She said they also have small animals, including birds, rabbits and guinea pigs.
“So if they’re interested in that type of animal, they should certainly consider going to their local shelter first,” Zenzano said.
When it comes to why there are so many animals in shelters, Zenzano said that adoptions are not keeping up with the intake numbers.
“That’s where we’re seeing this build up of animals in the shelter and, in particular, we’re seeing kind of a backlog of dogs in shelters,” she said.
WTOP’s Kate Ryan contributed to this report.
